New Amendments to Filing Fee Disclosure and Payment Methods

DFIN is committed to keeping clients abreast of regulatory changes — and an important SEC modernization effort is coming up.

When Does the Amendment Take Effect?

Amendments to filing fee disclosure and payment methods that the Securities and Exchange Commission made in October of last year go into effect on January 31, 2022. These SEC amendments impact companies that pay filing fees when conducting transactions such as registered securities offerings, tender offers, and mergers and acquisitions.

Filing Fee Disclosure & Payment Method Updates

The changes are consequential: any fee-required submission will require a new exhibit, called EX-FILING FEES, to be filed in HTML format.

According to the SEC, "Fee information is currently still required in the submission header. The information must also be disclosed in a formatted table and include the new Filing Fee exhibit."

It's important to meet the deadline — after which EDGAR test and live filing submissions will suspend if the EX-FILLING FEES exhibit is not attached to the submission. This new process enables stronger validation through filing fee structuring and creates lower-cost, simplified routing for payments through the new ACH option. The effect is to improve filing fee preparation and payment processing.

Looking out to the Future

As we look ahead into the near future, the next phase of iXBRL tagging will soon be required for fee tables . But there is time, as this will not come into effect until early 2024. The SEC is planning a pilot program, which has not yet been scheduled. As always, DFIN will keep you apprised of any and all updates before then.

Please contact me if you have any questions.